“‘One daughter.’
“‘Let her see her, then.’
“‘She does not care to see her.’
“‘Where is her husband?’
“‘Excuse me, doctor; I did not send for you to ask questions, but to give advice.’
“‘And I came to ask questions, in order that I might give advice. Do you think a human being is like a clock, that can be taken to pieces, cleaned, and put together again?’
“‘My daughter’s condition is not a fit subject for jesting.’
“‘Certainly not. Send for her husband, or the undertaker, whichever you please,’ I said, forgetting my manners and my temper together, for I was more irritable then than I am now, and there was something so repulsive about the woman, that I felt as if I was talking to an evil creature that for her own ends, though what I could not tell, was tormenting the dying lady.
“‘I understood you were a GENTLEMAN—of experience and breeding.’
“‘I am not in the question, madam. It is your daughter.’